Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
(OP)
We have to hydrotest a new ULSD shipping line. The pipe is approximately 10,000 ft in length. The pipe is to be hydrotested in April, 2006. As we are located on the eastern coast of Canada there are concerns about hydrotesting with water. Thus we are considering other mediums for hydrotest fluid. One idea floating around is to use ethylene glycol. However, this would require a significant amount of EG and then there are disposal concerns. I would like to know if anyone out there has expeience with hydrotesting in cold months and if you have any suggestions.
Thanks.
Thanks.





RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
There are people in these fora that will tell you that I'm giving you irresponsible advice, and that the total stored energy in an air test is just too great to be risked. ASME disagrees with that assertion, and I've done dozens of big static tests with air with great success by following all of the rules.
Regardless of your final choice of test media, be very careful of the temperature that you put into your calculations. Eastern Canada in April can be pretty chilly and cold temperatures shift the brittle-failure curve dramatically.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
www.muleshoe-eng.com
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
The harder I work, the luckier I seem
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
I agree with the above two options.
Furthermore, I believe that they are your ONLY two reasonable options. However, the use of PG will be fairly expensive and there is the cost of disposal.
I agree with zdas04 aboth the use of gas/air for pressure testing.
If there ever was an application where the dangers of air testing could be justified, I believe that this is it !!
I suggest that the best plan is a "segmented" air test of the system with a properly sized compressor system (consider and calculate the "pump-up time" required)
By the way, for carbon steels, I recollect that the minimum temperature where NDT is not a concern is -20F (ASME B31.1)
Will you be above this temperature in Canada in April ?
My opinion only
-MJC
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
Before you get too far looking at methanol, look at its MSDS sheet. That is some hazardous stuff and you really have to be careful to keep it off the ground.
David
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
"... eastern coast of Canada..." Would that perchance be "King of Cats" territory?
Would it be horribly unreasonable to use diesel as a test medium for an ULSD job? Seems to me that it would be a reasonable candidate. See thread378-112650
jt
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
You might want to read the link that jte provided. Tests with relatively non-volitile hydrocarbon liquids are frequently done and are often a better alternative than adding anti-freeze to water.
Davud
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter
"The hydrostatic test shall be conducted with water, except liquid petroleum that does not vaporize rapidly may be used provided:
(1)the pipeline section under test is not offshore and is outside of cities and other populated area..."
My pipeline is within city boundaries, thus is not an option.
RE: Hydrotest of Pipe During Winter